The present invention relates to a fish holder for use by a fisherman to secure a fish in a particular orientation for de-hooking, cleaning, filleting or scaling of the fish.
When catching fish which are spiny or barbed, a fisherman can suffer hand injuries when grasping the fish to remove a fish hook from the fish's mouth. Since the fish is still alive during the de-hooking process, an abrupt movement by the fish may cause the barbs of the fish to enter the fisherman's hand.
Further difficulty in holding a fish is encountered when cleaning and filleting a fish. The fish may be slippery or have spines or horns. The person cleaning the fish must be careful to avoid the spines of the slippery fish during the cleaning process. This is particularly true when older children are first learning to clean fish.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide apparatus which can be utilized by a fisherman to grasp a fish in such a fashion so as to permit the fisherman to remove a fishook from the fish's mouth. Such apparatus would be particularly desirable where the tool can further be used to hold the fish during cleaning, filleting or scaling of the fish.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for use by a fisherman, which eliminates direct handling of the fish during removal of the hook.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a device especially suitable for children so that a child may remove a hook after the fish is caught and avoid injury by the barbs of the fish or the hook itself.